Quick Plans
by Daisy Rhine
Summary: While Maria and Peach are in the princess's room talking they find out that King Bernard is arriving at the castle. Taking off guard the girls have to do some quick planning. What do they come up with? F-Mario Sequel to Hiding Out. I don't own Super Mario Brothers Nintendo does.
1. Maria's Unwanted Surprise

Chapter One: Maria's Unwanted Surprise

Here is a next installment for you all.

Maria blue overalls with the pants legs rolled up to her knees, Long sleeve red shirt the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, brown boots, white gloves, long brown hair pulled into high pony tail, red base ball cap with a white M on it, blue eyes.

I hope you all have a Jesus filled day.

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Maria sighed as she lay on Peach's bed. Her eyes closed as she had memorized the elaborate bedroom. While Peach didn't flaunt her riches she did enjoy what she had in the most humble way she could. Feeling the bed dip the plummer knew that he friend had joined her on the bed. "Thinking about you know who?"

Blue eyes looked up amused as she sang out, "Maybe~."

Peach laughed, "You two are kind of cute. I'm glad Luigi and I were able to hang out with you two last week."

"I'm surprised your dad allowed you to since you were supposed to meet up with the guy hoped you would like coming in the next day." Maria said turning to her side as the princess laid down and faced the brunette, "So how did that conversation go anyway?"

Peach sighed annoyed, "Like every other prince I meet. They want me to be this pretty princess that sits back and allows them to make choices for my kingdom. I swear there is no decent prince. I'm so close to telling my dad I'm making my own choice." Peach smiled, "Though I did hear Princess Daisy is interested in Luigi."

Maria's jaw dropped, "No way."

"Yes way." Peach looked amused, "Says is that he's the cutest guy she's ever seen."

The sister giggled as she adjusted one of her pant legs, "Oh my gosh, I love it. He's going to be so flustered when she says something."

"I know what you mean." The princess giggled amused, "But you have to admit they'd be cute together."

"They would be." Maria said in agreement with a soft sigh. She really enjoyed moments where she could be somewhat girly without having to meet any 'girly requirements'. "Don't say anything but I'm positive that he has a crush on Daisy as well."

Peach gave a soft squeal and turned to lay on her stomach, "I can't wait till either say something."

"It might be Daisy since we both know how easily flustered my brother can be at times." The plummer said with a small laugh, "I sometimes worry about him, probably more than I should."

"I don't think so. You're an older sister, it's your job to worry." The blue eyed princess said touching Maria's inner arm. The brunette smiled thankful for her friend. "I'm sure he appreciates that you worry the way you do. You two are always there for each other."

"We have to be." The brunette said with a soft smile, "Our parents raised us to always take care of each other."

Peach grinned, "If you think about it, we'd be three kingdoms that would always have each others backs." Maria smiled amused at her best friend, "I mean think about it, say you marry that man he would help you protect Luigi's and Daisy's if they marry. And since I started coming up with a treaty with him…" Peach winked as she did air quotations. Luigi, Maria and Peach were careful not to say Bowser's name where people could hear. Toad helped with that by often acting as a look out. "…we'd be a trio of kingdoms near impossible to beat."

"That's true." Maria agreed with a light blush at the thought of marrying Bowser. She honestly could see herself marrying him and them living happily even if not all his kids called her mom. Well to be honest she saw herself more like a friend to the older kids. With Jr. she could see him like a son he was young enough for her to help raise him depending on if and when they did marry. Face going bright red Maria turned and laid on her stomach burying her face in the comforter while Peach laughed much to her dismay.

Before Maria could look up and glare at her best friend Toad burst into the room. "Terrible news!" The females sat up and looked at the small mushroom as he shut the door in a hurry, "King Bernard is here."

Maria was in shock while Peach tired to find out how her dad snuck this past her ever vigilant observation. "How?"

"I don't know all I know is that I saw him walk in and I ran here as fast as I could." Toad replied catching his breath, "Maria has to get out of here but there are guards _everywhere_. He'll know if she leaves."

The princess tapped her chin the quickly wrote a letter and stamped it, "Toad, I have a very important job for you." The mushroom looked up waiting for his orders. She held out the envelope, "You know where to take this, be as fast as you can and take my personal horn so dad knows I have a guest."

Toad grabbed the horn and the letter then bolted out of the room trusting Maria to be Peach's personal guard in his place. Maria sighed with relief, "Thank you."

"Anything to help you get away from that pig." The princess took off her crown, "Now please help me get decent for my dad's guest."

Maria smiled happy to have a friend like Peach, "I'll be happy to help." She picked up the elegant brush and stood behind her best friend to take care of her hair.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Maria sighed as she followed Princess Peach to the stairs. The two had not only managed to waste an hour and a half getting Peach decent but also Maria while keeping their original outfits. "You think we gave him plenty of time?"

Peach smiled and hugged her friend's arm, "Definitely, I give him being here another thirty minuets to an hour. We just have to keep our cool and we'll get you out of this situation."

"You're sure this is the best way?"

"We have no choice, my dad somehow caught on to me being the cause of you getting out before he could see you." Peach replied, "Just remember once we do this Bernard will not lose interest right away and be a bit vengeful."

The brunette rolled her eyes, "He won't be able to do much. He won't let him do anything to me."

"That is one hundred percent true." The princess replied as the two of them stopped at the top of the stairs to collect themselves. After taking a couple of breaths Maria followed behind Peach like the guard position she was doing for Toad. "I heard we had a guest."

Maria did her best not to shiver when Bernard looked at her as Peach's father responded, "Yes, it was last minuet plans."

"I see that." Peach replied with a smile then turned to the king of the east, "Welcome to our home King Bernard."

Finally the plummer looked at the man that was the cause of many of her nightmares. He was by no means scary to look at like Bowser could be if he tried. He was rather simple to look at actually. His hair was a dirty blond with striking and amazing green eyes. He had a fair tan and wearing royal attire that consisted of the colors dark blue and silver for the most part. His smile would be considered nice if it weren't for the expression that it was used with. Maria's hand fisted at her side as Bernard's smile got bigger and his eyes locked with her blue. Goodness she could _not_ get over how creepy he was with that perverted expression of his. It truly made her fear for her life. "Yes, this is a very grand welcome. Hello, Lady Maria."

Before the brunette could even gag Peach spoke up, "As of right now she is no lady. She is my bodyguard you will refer to her as her temporary position is, till Toad is done with the errand I sent him on."

Maria smiled while Bernard and Peach's father looked at the princess with differing expressions. Her father looked at her like he was getting tired of his own child getting in the way. While on the other hand Bernard was smiling, but was clearly trying not to glare at the female blond. Peach fearlessly looked at his green eyes with her own blue. The visiting king continued to look at her as he spoke, "Of course."

"Honey, I'm sure that I can get one of my men to be your bodyguard."

"No thank you sir, I prefer Maria if Toad is not here." The two of them reached the bottom of the stairs where Maria looked around and did the job she was standing in for. "Is there any plans I should be aware of?"

Her father shook his head, "No, nothing so drastic."

King Bernard clearly held back a sigh and spoke with a smooth voice, "Are you sure there can be no thinking it over? I'm sure that two of us can make a great alliance."

"I'm sorry; I can not get in the middle of a war. I have more pressing matters to attend to."

Bernard gave a soft chuckle making Maria roll her eyes as he said, "I mean no offense when I say this, but King Bowser is no threat. Last I heard he won't even make an alliance with King Terrence. That can only mean that _Maria _has weakened his people otherwise he would have."

'_Okay, _he is so judging before he knows his information.' Maria stood close to Peach who looked at Bernard unamused.

The king of the mushroom kingdom took a moment to compose himself, "We all know King Terrence and King Bowser have a rough past with each other. King Terrence was asking a lot going to him And Maria hasn't been to the koopa kingdom in eight months. Unless he's been attacked and he hasn't made it known his people are as strong as they can be."

Bernard made a face, "Are you sure Maria hasn't been there?"

"If I may your majesty?" The kings looked at Maria who held a blank face. "I have been in koopa kingdom a handful of times due to me seeing a few young koopas get lost. I just wanted to make sure they made it home safe." Seeing the green eyed male look at her in disbelief she continued, "Other than that I have been in the neutral zone _close_ to koopa kingdom. Princess Peach and Luigi can attest to my travels."

"I see, why are you so close to the kingdom?"

"I needed the fresh air and I felt the neutral territory was the best place to do that. The people there don't hero worship me. It's a nice relief." Maria said looking at the mushroom king. In the back of her mind she couldn't help but pray that Toad got back faster the more she was forced to be around Bernard without Bowser next to her. It was agonizing.

"Can you tell me if it is possible that Bowser is arming up to fight the mushroom kingdom?" Peach's father asked.

"When I dropped off the young koopas it didn't look like it." Maria was trying really hard not to react to King Bernard staring at her like she had lost her mind. "It looks like they are pretty peaceful."

"I'm surprised you even went to the kingdom." Everyone looked at Bernard who was focused on Maria as if judging her for her actions, "He's been capturing you too from what I have been hearing."

"The last time King Koopa captured me was eleven months ago. After that he failed and stopped capturing Princess Peach eight months ago." Maria supplied standing tall, "I also was not about to let those poor little koopas be frightened and alone. I am a Good Samaritan at heart and I refuse to be the kind of person to let those sweethearts stay lost."

"Those in koopa kingdom are _not_ sweethearts." The king of the west said.

Peach focused on Bernard with a slight glare, "I don't care what race they are, all children do _not_ deserve to be treated badly just because we have a rocky relationship with others of their race."

"My daughter is correct King Bernard." Green eyes looked at the mushroom king in surprise, "I refuse to judge a child koopa just because of King Bowser. Maria was in the right making sure they made it home. I'm sure those children's parents are thankful for what she has done." A horn sounded startling those who were not Maria and Peach, "You have a guest?"

"I do, I had things to talk about with my guest." The princess turned and looked at the door as it opened causing shock to appear on her father and King Bernard, "I wanted to work out the finer details of the treaty we were working on."

Maria turned and smiled widely seeing Bowser walk in with a purple cape. Her boyfriend looked smug as he walked in and turned to the princess, "Oh, I wasn't aware you had company."

"Actually, he's my father's company." She turned to her dad, "Is it okay if we use the meeting room?"

At first King Toadstool stared at his child before replying, "Yes, the guards will be right outside."

"Yes sir." As the Princess turned two things happened. Toad took his place next to her prompting Bernard to turn to Maria. However Maria decided to screw control and darted into Bowser's arms with a happy squeal. Feeling his arms around her made the stress melt from her form. She never felt safer than she did now.

While she enjoyed the warmth that was coming from Bowser's plastron King Bernard spoke up, "What is going on? Why is he touching Lady Maria?"

Feeling her boyfriend's hand tighten around her waist she heard him speak causing her heart to beat in her chest at the words he had chosen. "First off, she's no lady. If she was I'd not be interested in her the way I am." The reptile said causing Maria to blush. She could only imagine the challenging expression on her boyfriend's face. The moment she did she felt herself blush hard at the thought of how attractive the thought was to her. She never had a boyfriend fight to have her and she was damn well enjoying Bowser telling Bernard off. "Second of all, she's my girlfriend so back off and find someone else."

Maria peaked over to see King Toadstool looked beyond surprised and Bernard looked between furious and disbelief, "There's no way."

"There is and it has been happening since Valentines Day eight months ago." Bowser sounded so smug as he continued to talk, "I won't be letting her go anytime soon."

Maria felt Bowser lead her as he followed after Princess Peach to the meeting room. As they walked up the stairs King Koopa took his girlfriend's hand and held it. Looking up into his eyes she said with a bit of joy in her voice, "I'm glad you're here."

The reptile looked into her blue eyes, "I am too. I'll never let someone steal what I worked hard to earn."

Peach giggled, "You mean cause mayhem just to make sure you keep Maria's attention."

Charcoal eyes glared playfully at the princess as she and the other two laughed, "You're not as funny as you think you are." Maria touched her boyfriend's arm softly causing him to look at her. They paused in front of the meeting room and just looked into each other's eyes. After a few second he smiled, "I love you more than you know."

The plummer felt her face heat up hearing that, "I…I love you too."

Kissing her hand they made their way into the room leaving two baffled guards outside the said meeting room. The four took a seat and Princess Peach pulled out the treaty she had written, "This is all the things we discussed the last time we saw each other and what Maria has told me. Please, read it over and tell me if anything is missing."

Maria pulled her seat closer to King Koopa. Leaning against his arm she held the hand not holding the treaty. Looking up she could see his eyes moving as he read the words on the page. Her eyes met Peach's and both smiled. The plummer was happy with how things were working out. It sucked that she no longer had a secret relationship now but at least now King Toadstool couldn't continue to try and set her up with that perverted Bernard. Maria could not understand how he could make normal look so creepy. Feeling Bowser squeeze her hand made her look up to smile seeing him grinning as he read the paper. In her peripheral vision she saw Bernard and King Toadstool walk by. The king of the west's eyes glaring at her and Bowser's joined hands. "I find this to be very well done. The only thing missing is one you and I can't do without your father."

"The trading routes." Peach said taking the paper and placing it in front of her as she continued to speak, "I was waiting till my dad knew about your relationship before I brought this up. Now that he knows we can talk to him about it."

"Do you want to talk to him after I leave?" The shelled king asked, letting his hand run up Maria's arm to where she had her sleeve rolled up to.

"It probably would be good if it was just me and my dad met first before you joined in." The blond smiled picking up the current treaty and stood up, "If you want Maria you can show him the gardens while I drop this off in my room."

The brunette nodded, "Of course, it is a nice day." Standing up she pulled Bowser along. Going past the guards she said, "We're going to the garden, will one of you let King Toadstool know?"

One guard nodded and ran to let his king know as Bowser happily held Maria's hand as she led him to the outdoors. As they walked past the other mushroom guards they would shift nervously as the reptile walked past them. When the gardens were coming into view the male spoke up, "It was satisfying seeing the look on his face."

Maria let out a small laugh her mind picturing the look the perverted king had when he saw her with Bowser, "It definitely was a sight to see. He was so angry at what you said."

"Unfortunately, I don't see him stopping his attempts to get you be his anytime soon." Bowser replied still looking beyond amused, "However, that just means that he will have to deal with the fact that I will keep telling him off." The female plummer laughed behind her hand at his comment, "And I will enjoy it as well."

"I'm sure that you will." Maria said in agreement, "So what were you doing when Toad showed up?"

"Just some paperwork and sending a letter to King Terrance once again denying him the alliance he is looking for." Bowser replied with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, "I was actually just finishing said paperwork when he was lead in."

"That is good. Was he well received when he got there?"

"Yes, he was let into the castle by Ludwig. He was surprised by his sudden appearance but after seeing the letter that was from Princess Peach he lead him to my office immediately. Every letter I have received from as of late from her has had a high standard my kids picked up on." The shelled king replied as they made their way out the door and into the garden. "Actually, Jr. was talking to him the entire way up to my office from what I was hearing when they got closer to my office door."

"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest." Maria said with a small laugh.

"Me neither, the first thing I heard was my eldest laughing when they got close to my office door." Bowser said with an amused chuckle, "The look Toad had on his face when he entered was absolutely amazing. I was barely able to stop myself from laughing at his expense."

"I'm glad that Jr. wanted to talk to him. How has he and the rest of the kids been doing?" The plummer asked curiously as she tilted her head to her own question. She could feel her pony tail sliding against her back as she did so.

"Very good, they keep asking when they can see you again." She laughed as he rolled his eyes amused, "I swear I don't think they get that you and I are the ones dating. They keep acting like you are there for them instead of me."

She laughed picturing them stealing her away from her boyfriend, Jr. especially being the main culprit of said stealing. "I guess that is how it is when a single parent starts dating again depending on the children that they have. I remember when I was back home with Luigi how some TV shows would depict how that would go. I'm just glad that they actually like me instead of how some of the shows depict the kids reacting negatively to their parent dating again." She leaned on his arm with a small sigh.

She could feel Bowser's eyes on her as they continued walking through the gardens. She enjoyed the feeling of his muscles causing her to wonder if her type was strong men or men in general that were not put off by the fact that she was a fighter and plummer. It was a thought she never saw her self in the past thinking about. "What are you thinking about?"

"What my 'kind' of guy is." Maria replied glancing up at the man, "It's a thought process that I would have never really put effort into before I got here."

"Having heard why that was I don't blame you. I used to be the same way before I met my ex-wife." Blue eyes looked at her boyfriend baffled by this, "My father would tell me to start thinking about it but I was honestly not all that interested. My mother was trying to get me to date but I just didn't have any interest in some of the girls that she was pointing out." His eyes rolled as he continued, "It didn't help that most of the girls she and dad were pointing out seemed like they were more interested in the crown than the person who would inherit it."

"Yeah, I can see that causing an issue. I think Peach is going through the same thing." Maria replied with a shake of the head, "It is honestly very irritating that is the main thing people see when it is royalty."

"Not that you are going through anything fun yourself. Being hero worshiped is not a fun feeling in itself. I can imagine all the weirdos coming around."

Her blue eyes rolled at that, "Yeah, that is annoying too. Though now Luigi and I have a fence that is far enough away from the house that we have so they don't come around too much for the most part."

"That is good to hear. How is Luigi?"

Maria smiled brightly hearing the question. It brought her great joy seeing him take more of an interest in getting to know her brother. "He is really good. He has started getting into doing photography as of late. The pictures that he takes are starting to get really good."

"Interesting perhaps he can come by and see if any of my kids might get into that. Since Jr. is the one interested in inheriting the kingdom the others are trying to find things that they like." Bowser said with a smile, "I can see Windy, Lemmy, and Roy perhaps taking an interest in it."

"I can definitely see Roy and Windy taking an interest in it. I'll let Luigi know so that they can get together about it if they are indeed interested." Maria replied with a wide smile, "It would do him some good to talk to others about what he likes. He already likes writing with Morton, Lemmy, and Roy. He looks forward to their letters in the mail."

Bowser burst out laughing causing a couple of the guards to jump. Both of them ignored the skittish guards and continued on their way with the koopa replying as they did, "They do too. Every time we get a mail call they are always looking for his replies themselves. Very much like Wendy and Jr. are with your letters."

Maria beamed hearing that, "I look forward to them myself. It is fun to be their pen pal. And I am glad that I can try and help when Wendy is going through some troubles with her friends, even though I don't have the full experiences to help a hundred percent."

"And am I ever glad that she goes to you about that. If she came to me about them I would probably suggest that she beat them since I don't deal with that crap that they have been doing as of late. I swear you girls at that age are ridiculous."

She nodded her head to his eye roll. While she had never gone through what Wendy was dealing with, where her friends were concerned she had seen it with others when she was in school. It was sad that they were giving Wendy crap for taking an interest in gardening or other 'mundane' things. "I tried to help her the best that I could with that."

"The advice you gave her helped her more than you think. And she has found that spending less time with those friends has been the best way to handle that situation due to said advice." Bowser replied moving his hand to hug her around her waist causing her to grin and enjoy the attention that he was willing to give her. The way that she felt his hold on her told her that she could easily escape from his grasp if she needed or wanted to. "I am glad that she is not hanging out with them as much anymore. Wendy knows how much I don't like those particular friends of hers. In fact one of said friends is not allowed into my house without either me or one of her brothers, excluding Ludwig, there as well."

"Ah, I see. So she is the one that wants to be with your eldest." Maria replied shaking her head softly.

"Yes, and she continues to try despite the fact that he's told her that he is happily dating his girlfriend. A far better girl than that friend of Wendy's from what I am hearing from him."

"Has Ludwig said when he is going to introduce her to you all?" Maria asked curiously. She didn't ask all that often since it was clear that Ludwig wanted to take his time introducing her to his family. However she too has been hearing about the girl through Wendy due to the fact that she spotted her eldest brother with his girlfriend when he was out. The only reason she had been able to see that was due to her friend that liked Ludwig purposely being in the area to see him. When Wendy saw how her friend was acting she immediately started asking Maria for advice on the matter. This was something that Maria had kept between her and Wendy since it would cause stress to Wendy's father. The plummer would say something if it was going to cause an issue to the other kids or to Bowser himself, but so far it didn't come to it.

"He said that he and Windella are talking about it." Bowser replied looking up at the sky with a thoughtful expression, "From what I understand they want to meet each other's parents at the same time. However, it is her parents that are wanting to meet him more than anything. They apparently bring it up with her often."

"Yikes, I can imagine that is a little hard on her."

"Not really, Ludwig says that it's more of an annoyance to her than anything else. And that he is thankful that I don't ask about meeting her all the time. At most I ask about her to get a feel for how she is." Bowser replied with a shrug.

Maria giggled against his side, "I guess some parents are a little nosier than others."

"That is true."

"Windella has a beautiful name."

"I agree with that. I'm just really hoping that she is good for him in the end." Bowser said, she could hear worry lacing in his voice.

Patting the upper part of his plastron Maria said, "I'm sure that he knows that is why you ask about her. He is a smart kid; Wendy's told me plenty of things about him handling situations very maturely."

"I know, but it doesn't stop my worrying. I just want the best for my kids."

The guards that were nearby looked at King Koopa in surprise but kept on their way so that they didn't slack on their job. Maria smiled fondly; she was glad that she got to see the softer side of him. It was cute to see him worry over his children the way he did, she could tell that they were always on his mind. Giving a smile she said, "You worry about them so much."

"I'm a single dad, I have every right to worry about them." He made a face causing her to be confused, "Actually, I think I was the only one that worried about them on the heavier side. While my ex loved our kids I was more of the worry wart when it involved them."

"I get that." Maria replied getting out of his grasp and walking over to the pond and sitting next to it. Looking over at him she patted the spot next to herself, "This is my favorite spot in the garden."

"I can see that" Bowser replied taking a seat next to her, "I'm not too surprised to hear that to be honest."

The female plummer giggled, "Yep, it is a place that Princess and I like to relax when she has free time."

Bowser chuckled at that and leaned back on his hands, "Wendy has a place like this back home. It is her own private place that only really family knows about. When we can't find her around the house that is usually where we find her."

Maria laughed, "Sounds like me when I wonder off into the neutral territory. If Luigi needs to find me he usually finds me there."

"That sounds like something you would do." Bowser said with an amused chuckle, "However, I thought that you would go to your garden."

"It's one of the places I go to." Maria replied looking into his eyes with amusement dancing in her eyes. With a grin on her face she continued as she watched his eyes for how he would react, "Another of my favorite places to be is the kitchen. There is nothing more fun than cooking up a good meal with the food I grow myself." She placed her hands in her lap and grinned at her boyfriend who started laughing at the smile that she had. "You should see my brother and me cooking together when we get the chance. More often or not we end up a mess before we finish cooking the meal we had planed."

She started laughing as Bowser fell over to his side as he laughed. Her mind went back to the last time he had laughed this hard. She could still see the look on Luigi's face as he was piled on by Lemmy, Roy, and Morton the last time all of them got together. Bowser had been so amused he laughed for a good long while about it any time he saw or Luigi was brought up after that. For Maria herself, she had been just as amused at what had happened that she had been barely able to hold herself up. Luigi had been hilarious when he had tried to get away from the three koopas that had piled on top of him. Calming down to a light giggle she turned her attention to her still hysterically laughing boyfriend. Giving a mischievous smile she scooted closer to her boyfriend and leaned against his plastron. This caused Princess Peach and King Bowser to laugh as Bernard had barely held back a glare as his hand fisted at his side.


	2. Bowser Stakes his Claim

Chapter Two: Bowser Stakes His Claim

Here is the next chapter for you all.

Maria blue overalls with the pants legs rolled up to her knees, Long sleeve red shirt the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, brown boots, white gloves, long brown hair pulled into high pony tail, red base ball cap with a white M on it, blue eyes.

I hope you all have a Jesus filled day.

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Charcoal eyes looked down at the piece of paper that was in front of him as he read through what was on it. Seeing the fine penmanship that this general of his had made it easy to read what was there. He had a couple of other generals that had a harder handwriting to read. Bowser was happy that he didn't have any of their reports to look through today as he had plans with his kids later that day. He also was happy that he didn't have to read through their handwriting because he was nearly done with his paperwork for the day.

Giving a nod he pulled out one of the drawers of his desk and received a file. Placing the paper in the file he put it away and closed the drawer. Stretching his arms over his head he looked over at the clock to see how long he had been doing what he had been. Giving a grin he was happy to see that he was in the office a lot less than he was the day before. Putting one of his arms on the desk he picked up the next sheet of paper and started reading it over. He was only half way through it when he heard his eldest laughing. Putting the paper down he turned his attention to the door as he could hear his youngest spouting off questions.

Before said questions could be answered the door opened showing Ludwig first then his youngest child and last Toad who had such an amusing expression that he nearly burst out laughing the moment he saw it. Turning his attention to Ludwig he asked, "What is going on?"

"Toad has a letter from Princess Peach."

The king turned his attention the small mushroom holding a letter in his hand. The moment Bowser looked at him Toad held out the letter and walked forward a bit, "It is urgent."

Taking the letter he quickly opened it and read what was on the page, the princess's handwriting easy to read. 'Bowser, I need you to come to the mushroom castle as fast as you can. King Bernard is here and Maria can't leave without being seen this time. Somehow my father got this by me. When you are here we can have you look over the treaty so that neither of them know that you are really here to help Maria. I'm sorry if this interferes with any of your plans but Maria really needs your help. From: Peach.'

Standing up he stacked the remaining paper in a neat pile and looked at his eldest, "Ludwig, I need you to tell your siblings to help plan a day we can try this family get together another day. I have to go to the mushroom kingdom."

"Is it Maria? Is she okay?"

"Yes, however Bernard is there and she can't leave." Bowser replied causing both Ludwig and Jr.'s eyes to widen. "I'm going to get ready to leave. I leave the planning to you kids."

"We will take care of it. You go take care of this creep." Ludwig replied taking his youngest brother's hand and took him with to go tell the rest of their siblings, thus leaving Toad alone in the office with his father.

Bowser went to the coat hanger where he had one of his purple capes hanging up. Tying it on properly he asked, "Do you know if her father knows that she is helping Maria get away from Bernard?"

"I'm not entire sure to be honest." The mushroom replied causing the king of the koopa kingdom to look at him curiously. "I just saw that King Bernard was there and ran to tell the girls he was there. I didn't stay long enough to hear if it was planned out purposely."

"Interesting." Bowser replied as he got ready to head out once he was sure that he had everything that he was going to need. Deciding that he would leave his stamp in his office he made his way out with Toad. The treaty would need to be looked over by the king of the mushroom kingdom before it could be verified. He didn't doubt that it would but he knew that it would take his fellow king a bit before he would fully trust him. He didn't blame the man either. He was after all the one at fault always taking the princess before he finally stopped. "We should start heading there now. I don't want him to try and get close to Maria."

"I don't blame you." Toad replied following him out of the office and down the stairs, "When he was trying to get with Princess Peach he was being just as creepy."

Bowser rolled his eyes, "His letters were the same when he tried to get Wendy's hand."

Toad gave a small choke hearing that, "Are you serious?"

The king nodded as the two of them made their way to the entrance doors of the castle, "To say that she and I were both annoyed is an understatement. I'm thankful that he let go of the idea of marrying her quickly."

"Wow, this guy is so unlucky when it comes to trying to get a girl."

"He doesn't help himself when he carries himself the way he does." Bowser said simply as they walked up to the carriage that was going to take them to the mushroom kingdom. He would take one of his airships however it would cause a panic, and that is not what he wanted to do.

"That is true." Toad said in agreement.

Bowser could see how Toad was a little uncomfortable as he sat in the carriage with him. Despite the fact that he was clearly trying not to let himself be affected by the koopa king he was still uncomfortable being near him. Not letting it get to him Bowser's mind went to his girlfriend and what she was doing at this moment. Was she in Bernard's presence at this moment or was she and Princess Peach trying to delay the meeting? Letting out a chuckle he tired to think of what the two girls would do to not end up talking to King Bernard right away. When he had let out his laugh he had seen the small mushroom jump at its suddenness. Looking at Toad he still had the amused expression on his face as he said, "Calm down, I'm just thinking about what Maria and Princess Peach would do to delay them talking to King Bernard."

Toad gave a small nervous smile, "Princess Peach probably asked Maria to do her hair."

Bowser chuckled again, "That sounds like something that Peach would do." In his mind he envisioned Maria doing Peach's hair.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Bowser looked at the mushroom castle that was coming into view. They had gotten through the checkpoint to get in and Toad had to explain that King Koopa was indeed the princess's guest. It had taken a bit to convince them but they had gotten through and were now close enough that Bowser was now trying to plan out how he was going to handle what he was about to walk into. In his mind he kept telling himself that he was not going to attack the other king if he was trying to get into Maria's space. Taking a deep breath he was doing his best to not lose it at the image his head was coming up with.

"You look like you really want to hurt him."

"You have no idea how much I dislike this man." Bowser replied as he did his best to calm himself down. The need to beat the man was hard for him to contain. Taking another breath he managed to calm himself down enough to think clearly.

"I think I have a pretty good idea with the expression on your face right now." Toad said.

The replied shrugged at that as he opened his eyes and they locked onto the castle they were getting closer to. His mind started planning the best way to handle the other king. He didn't want to accidentally cause a war that was not needed, especially since he wanted to start working on getting into more friendly territory with the mushroom kingdom. He couldn't do that if he had to put part of his focus on a war that could have been prevented. Nodding his head he knew just how he wanted to handle the situation reguardless of what he was seeing when he got there.

"You've seen how King Bernard is with Maria." Bowser locked eyes with the mushroom who was messing with the horn that he had brought with him. "Has he tried to touch her in any way that she doesn't like?"

"No, Maria doesn't let him get close enough to allow him to do that." Toad replied giving a smile as he continued, "Every time he tried she finds some way of getting out of it. It's actually fun to watch how frustrated he gets when she does that."

The reptile grinned hearing that, "She always has been crafty."

"It doesn't help that Peach helps her in her craftiness either. I can't tell you how entertaining it is when you see it in action. You would think that the two of them were raised like sisters."

"I know what you are talking about. You should see how she is with my daughter. It is like the two of them have known each other for years as friends instead of enemies like they started out as." Bowser said with a chuckle as his mind brought up the last time he had seen Maria and Wendy together. The mischievous smiles on their faces made him feel bad for anyone they were planning on messing with.

Toad let out a genuine laugh as he spoke, "Sounds a lot like how I see Princess Peach and Maria when they are together in her room."

Bowser shook his head, "I fear if the three of them ever get together now."

"Yeah, I can already imagine what they would do just from what we have been talking about." The mushroom shook his head as Bowser chuckled, "It almost sounds a bit like a nightmare. I would hate to have whatever the three of them plan happen to me."

"At least people will know to never mess with them."

The small mushroom nodded his head quickly in agreement, "Very much agreed."

The two of them fell into a comfortable silence as they looked at the scenery passing by. He found it fascinating how this kingdom and his own had so many similarities yet so many differences at the same time. The differences made it to where there were specific flowers that grew in each kingdom naturally. Seeing a red flower he committed it to memory to try and do something with it later when ever he found the right time to do it.

His mind went back to his kids wondering how they were doing with the planning. This wasn't the first time he had them doing this and it most certainly would not be the last. However, he was still curious what they were planning. They were very creative when they wanted to be. Giving a soft smile he chuckled at the memory of the last time that they had family time. They had planned out a whole day event where they had planned out every step and all of them had a blast. He really hoped that they did something similar to it this time as well.

Peeking over to the side he could see Toad wiggling his feet against the seat lost in thought. Even though he had been just as guilty of it he had to ask, "What's on your mind?"

"Lots of things, mostly Princess Peach. I'm just wondering how she and Maria are doing. You?"

"Mainly my kids and what they are doing right now." Bowser looked at Toad seriously, "Do you think Maria would like flowers?"

The question took the mushroom by surprised so he took a small bit to collect his thoughts. "I'm pretty sure that she does. Why do you ask? Are you planning on getting her one?"

"Something like that. Does she get upset if they are picked out of the ground?"

Still a bit confused Toad tilted his head as he replied, "Not really. At least I haven't seen her react negatively when others receive them."

Bowser nodded as he went back to thinking to himself, "Good to know."

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Toad and King Bowser walked up to the steps of the mushroom castle. Getting there the mushroom looked at the guards standing there, "Princess Peach is waiting to see her guest that she sent me to get."

A couple of the guards looked at each other all baffled by what they were hearing as one asked, "Are you sure that he was asked to be here?"

"Yes, I have the horn from Princess Peach and I told the last guards that were here that I was going to get her guest."

Bowser was amused as the guards once again looked at each other before nodding to Toad. Taking the horn from his belt he and Bowser made their way up the stairs and blew the horn letting all there know who the guest was for. The guards at the entry door opened it and showed the small group talking near the door. He felt a bit of pride seeing the shock that was on King Toadstool and King Bernard's faces when he entered after Toad. As he entered he could hear the princess saying, "I do, I had things to talk about with my guest." The princess turned and looked at him with a smile as she continued to talk, "I wanted to work out the finer details of the treaty we were working on."

He could see his girlfriend turning to smile at him. Just seeing that smile made him feel all the more smug. Playing along with the plan the princess wrote in her note he said with a slight 'surprise', "Oh, I wasn't aware you had company."

"Actually, he is my father's company." The blond princess turned to her father as she asked innocently, "Is it okay if we use the meeting room?"

While the king of the mushroom kingdom was having a funny reaction, he enjoyed the face that Bernard was making. It was like he was all tongue tied and was clearly at a loss for words. He could hear the father replying to his daughter causing Bernard to be all the more baffled by what had been said, "Yes, the guards will be right outside."

"Yes sir." Princess Peach replied as she turned to watch Toad head in her direction. Bowser felt a great pride in his chest as he watched Bernard's smile melt when he turned to talk to the female plummer only for her to give out a happy squeal and run into koopa king's arms. Wrapping his arms around her he felt his heart fluttering in his chest at the embrace she had given him.

While he enjoyed holding her against himself he turned his focus on King Bernard as he spoke, "What is going on? Why is he touching Lady Maria?"

His hand tightened on her waist as he spoke feeling very protective the moment those words left the other man's mouth. "First off, she is no lady. If she was I'd not be interested in her the way I am." Seeing Bernard about seize with the way he was talking he continued daring the man to speak as he did, "Second of all, she's my girlfriend so back off and find someone else."

He felt extremely smug seeing the amount disbelief that the other had on their face as. It was clear that Bernard was doing his best to not lose his cool with the way that he had been spoken to. "There's no way."

Standing up tall Bowser said proudly, "There is and is has been happening since Valentines Day eight months ago. I won't be letting her go anytime soon."

Feeling that he had ended the conversation he looked at Princess Peach and followed her to where the meeting room was taking his beautiful plummer along with him. His hand slid down her arm and took her hand as they walked. He turned his attention to said girlfriend as she spoke, he could hear the joy in her voice as he did so. "I'm glad you are here."

Turning he looked into her eyes, I am too. I'll never let someone steal what I worked hard to earn."

He heard Peach giggle as she spoke up, "You mean cause mayhem just to make sure you keep Maria's attention."

Turning he glared playfully at said princess as the other three laughed at his expense, "You're not as funny as you think you are." He would have continued to glare at the laughing princess but the moment he felt Maria touch his arm he looked into her eyes. They all stopped walking as the two of them continued to look into each others eyes, "I love you more than you know."

He smiled seeing the blush that took over the plummer's face as she replied to him, "I…I love you too."

He kissed her hand and pulled her into the apparent meeting room where they two of them took their seats at the table. Looking at the princess he could see that she was holding the treaty that she had written up, "This is all the things that we discussed the last time we saw each other and what Maria has told me. Please, read it over and tell me if anything is missing."

Taking the treaty he started reading, as he did so he could hear Maria pulling her seat closer to his own and leaning on his arm that was not holding the treaty. He could even feel her hand going into his. Even as he was reading the page in front of him he could already tell that the female next to him was thinking pretty heavily, so he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. As he continued to read as he did his best to not let Maria distract him, which was a little hard but he managed to do it. Finishing what was there he spoke, "I find this to be very well done. The only thing missing is one you and I can't do without your father."

"The trading routes." Peach said taking the paper from him and placing it in front of her as she continued to speak, "I was waiting till my dad knew about your relationship before I brought this up. Now that he knows we can talk to him about it."

"Do you want to talk to him after I leave?" He asked as he allowed his hand to travel up his girlfriend's arm up to where she had her sleeve rolled up.

"It probably would be good if it was just me and my dad met first before you joined in." The blond smiled picking up the current treaty and stood up, "If you want Maria you can show him the gardens while I drop this off in my room."

He felt Maria's head nod as she replied, "Of course, it is a nice day." The both of them stood up and he allowed himself to be guided to where they needed to go. He probably could find his way there with all the times he had been there to capture the princess but he'd rather Maria take him there so the guards didn't think he was trying to do something right under their nose. The moment they were going past the guards he heard Maria say to them, "We're going to the garden, will one of you let King Toadstool know?"

Feeling her slip her hand back into his he ignored the fact one of the guards were following them to the gardens. Just her hand in his made it even easier to ignore the other guards they were walking past who were reacting to him just walking by them. Seeing the gardens coming through the door that they were approaching he spoke up, "It was satisfying seeing the look on his face."

The pretty plummer let out a small laugh hearing that, "It definitely was a sight to see. He was so angry at what you said."

"Unfortunately, I don't see him stopping his attempts to get you be his anytime soon." Despite saying that he still felt a bit of amusement at the whole situation, "However, that just means that he will have to deal with the fact that I will keep telling him off." The female plummer laughed behind her hand at his comment, "And I will enjoy it as well."

"I'm sure that you will." Maria said in agreement, "So what were you doing when Toad showed up?"

"Just some paperwork and sending a letter to King Terrance once again denying him the alliance he is looking for." He replied giving a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, "I was actually just finishing said paperwork when he was lead in."

"That is good. Was he well received when he got there?"

"Yes, he was let into the castle by Ludwig. He was surprised by his sudden appearance but after seeing the letter that was from Princess Peach he lead him to my office immediately. Every letter I have received from as of late from her has had a high standard my kids picked up on." Bowser replied as they went through the door into the garden, "Actually, Jr. was talking to him the entire way up to my office from what I was hearing when they got closer to my office door."

"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest." Maria said with a small laugh.

"Me neither, the first thing I heard was my eldest laughing when they got close to my office door." Bowser said with an amused chuckle as he recalled the laughter that had broken his focus. He loved it when he heard his kids laugh. "The look Toad had on his face when he entered was absolutely amazing. I was barely able to stop myself from laughing at his expense."

"I'm glad that Jr. wanted to talk to him. How has he and the rest of the kids been doing?" The plummer asked curiously as she tilted her head to her own question. He watched in fascination as her ponytail moved with her.

He rolled his eyes as he replied to her, "Very good, they keep asking when they can see you again. I swear I don't think they get that you and I are the ones dating. They keep acting like you are there for them instead of me."

The way she laughed already clued him in to what she already had running through her mind. "I guess that is how it is when a single parent starts dating again depending on the children that they have. I remember when I was back home with Luigi how some TV shows would depict how that would go. I'm just glad that they actually like me instead of how some of the shows depict the kids reacting negatively to their parent dating again." He felt happy that she leaned against his arm as they walked.

He looked at her as they continued to walk through the garden. At that moment he felt that she was the best thing to see out of that entire garden. Smiling he watched her as she was lost in thought with such a look of concentration that he became curious. "What are you thinking about?"

"What my 'kind' of guy is. It's a thought process that I would have never really put effort into before I got here."

"Having heard why that was I don't blame you. I used to be the same way before I met my ex-wife." He felt her eyes look at him confused. As he spoke he remembered all the times his parents would bring up finding a girlfriend or thinking about what he wanted in a girl. "My father would tell me to start thinking about it but I was honestly not all that interested. My mother was trying to get me to date but I just didn't have any interest in some of the girls that she was pointing out." His eyes rolled as he continued, "It didn't help that most of the girls she and dad were pointing out seemed like they were more interested in the crown than the person who would inherit it."

"Yeah, I can see that causing an issue. I think Peach is going through the same thing." Maria shook her head as she replied to him, "It is honestly very irritating that is the main thing people see when it is royalty."

"Not that you are going through anything fun yourself. Being hero worshiped is not a fun feeling in itself. I can imagine all the weirdos coming around." He rolled his eyes at the thought of hero worship. It was amazing what people did when they did that. And it was something that annoyed him greatly.

Her blue eyes rolled at that, "Yeah, that is annoying too. Though now Luigi and I have a fence that is far enough away from the house that we have so they don't come around too much for the most part."

"That is good to hear. How is Luigi?"

He felt his heart flutter at the smile that he was rewarded with, "He is really good. He has started getting into doing photography as of late. The pictures that he takes are starting to get really good."

Bowser had to smile hearing that, "Interesting perhaps he can come by and see if any of my kids might get into that. Since Jr. is the one interested in inheriting the kingdom the others are trying to find things that they like. I can see Windy, Lemmy, and Roy perhaps taking an interest in it."

"I can definitely see Roy and Windy taking an interest in it. I'll let Luigi know so that they can get together about it if they are indeed interested." Maria replied with a wide smile, "It would do him some good to talk to others about what he likes. He already likes writing with Morton, Lemmy, and Roy. He looks forward to their letters in the mail."

Bowser couldn't help the laugh that burst from him. It was far too funny that he reacted much like his children did. "They do too. Every time we get a mail call they are always looking for his replies themselves. Very much like Wendy and Jr. are with your letters."

Hearing this caused his girlfriend to give a bright smile, "I look forward to them myself. It is fun to be their pen pal. And I am glad that I can try and help when Wendy is going through some troubles with her friends, even though I don't have the full experiences to help a hundred percent."

"And am I ever glad that she goes to you about that. If she came to me about them I would probably suggest that she beat them since I don't deal with that crap that they have been doing as of late." He rolled his eyes, "I swear you girls at that age are ridiculous."

"I tried to help her the best that I could with that."

"The advice you gave her helped her more than you think. And she has found that spending less time with those friends has been the best way to handle that situation due to said advice." He moved his hand to hug her around the waist gently, despite the fact that she was a tough person in general. "I am glad that she is not hanging out with them as much anymore. Wendy knows how much I don't like those particular friends of hers. In fact one of said friends is not allowed into my house without either me or one of her brothers, excluding Ludwig, there as well."

"Ah, I see. So she is the one that wants to be with your eldest."

He felt a slight irritation at the very thought of his daughter's friend continued attempts to get with Ludwig. She seriously didn't know how to take a hint. "Yes, and she continues to try despite the fact that he's told her that he is happily dating his girlfriend. A far better girl than that friend of Wendy's from what I am hearing from him."

"Has Ludwig said when he is going to introduce her to you all?"

"He said that he and Windella are talking about it." Bowser replied looking up at the sky his mind going over his own curiosity and interest in meeting the girl that his eldest had been happily dating for all these months. "From what I understand they want to meet each other's parents at the same time. However, it is her parents that are wanting to meet him more than anything. They apparently bring it up with her often."

"Yikes, I can imagine that is a little hard on her."

"Not really, Ludwig says that it's more of an annoyance to her than anything else. And that he is thankful that I don't ask about meeting her all the time. At most I ask about her to get a feel for how she is."

Maria giggled against his side, "I guess some parents are a little nosier than others."

"That is true." Bowser replied with a nod of his head.

"Windella has a beautiful name."

"I agree with that. I'm just really hoping that she is good for him in the end." Bowser couldn't help the worry that went into his voice. When it came to his kids he worried about them all the time.

His girlfriend patted the upper part of his plastron, "I'm sure that he knows that is why you ask about her. He is a smart kid; Wendy's told me plenty of things about him handling situations very maturely."

"I know, but it doesn't stop my worrying. I just want the best for my kids." He saw the guards that were around them looking at him in shock as they walked by.

Giving a small smile Maria replied, "You worry about them so much."

"I'm a single dad; I have every right to worry about them. Actually,…" He made a face as he thought about it, "…I think I was the only one that worried about them on the heavier side. While my ex loved our kids I was more of the worry wart when it involved them."

"I get that." Maria replied as he felt her pry herself free from and walk over to sit next to the pond they had ended up near. She looked at him and patted the next spot next to her when he had continued to just watch her. "This is my favorite spot in the garden."

"I can see that" Bowser replied taking a seat next to her, "I'm not too surprised to hear that to be honest."

The female plummer giggled, "Yep, it is a place that Princess and I like to relax when she has free time."

Bowser chuckled at that and leaned back on his hands, "Wendy has a place like this back home. It is her own private place that only really family knows about. When we can't find her around the house that is usually where we find her."

Maria laughed hearing that, "Sounds like me when I wonder off into the neutral territory. If Luigi needs to find me he usually finds me there."

"That sounds like something you would do." Bowser said with an amused chuckle, "However, I thought that you would go to your garden."

"It's one of the places I go to." Seeing the look in her eye caused him to already feel laughter build up in his chest. "Another of my favorite places to be is the kitchen. There is nothing more fun than cooking up a good meal with the food I grow myself." He started laughing as she placed her hands into her lap and grinned at him. "You should see my brother and me cooking together when we get the chance. More often or not we end up a mess before we finish cooking the meal we had planed."

The both of them burst into a fit of laughter with him falling over in the process as he did. The last time he laughed this hard was when Luigi had gotten piled on by Lemmy, Roy, and Morton. It had been so funny to him because Maria's brother did all he could to try and get away from his children. And he did eventually but it took him a little but due to the fact that he had not been expecting the three of them to work together as well as they did. Goodness it took him a good long while before he could even think of Luigi without remembering that moment. When he finally got a little bit of control over himself he sat up though he was still laughing at the image of her and Luigi having a food fight. Before he could completely stop himself from laughing he felt Maria get close to him. Curious as to why she was doing that he looked over to the side where he saw King Bernard standing just in view with his fist shaking at his side. As he burst into a new fit of laughter he heard Princess Peach joining in as she had just come to join them. He now had a whole other reason to laugh at just the mention of a single person and he was going to enjoy it to the fullest.


End file.
